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Inspiring You Day 8

Today I received a rejection letter in response to one of the manuscripts I submitted. I must say, receiving this agent's kind, "No, thank you," to the project was an easier pill to swallow than the ones I used to get when I was simply mailing out blind queries. On those query letters I would describe my book and offer it to the agent or editor I was targeting. The responses I received on quite a few were simply form rejection letters. However, I will never forget that one agent simply wrote his/her response on my letter and mailed it back saying the story was "too contrived, melodramatic. I'll pass."

A good way to view that rejection is that the agent was already trying to conserve paper and figured he/she wouldn't waste a tree on something she could say in a few words on my recycled letter. That was about 10 years ago. That person was way ahead of his/her time.

With this current rejection and the one from the past, I know that God has a plan for my projects and that He will find the perfect person to represent my work when the time is right.

And, with that said, I will continue to pursue requests and continue to work on new stories.

I also wanted to add, that when I was mailing the queries, I never felt that path was a secure path to offer my work to an agent or editor. Only years later when I joined writer's organizations did I find a more organized way to network in this field and learn more about the craft as well as marketing me and the book. I am still working on all of this, of course, and have no certain answers, but at least, I am making contacts, good contacts, that will certainly last through my career.

If you are still sending out queries by following a Literary guide or gathering names out of Writer's Digest of the agents that are accepting new clients, I would say to continue doing this. Nicholas Sparks says his success started by a query of his getting pulled from the slush pile. If it happened to him, it can happen for you. But I would also recommend joining local writers organizations... finding a group that writes what you like to write... and begin to participate in their activities and volunteer. If you are serious about pursuing publication, this is the best advice I can give you that I have experienced first hand.

Earlier, I mentioned working on a new story. Well, today was another unproductive day. I think my new challenge is helping me be accountable and post my progress, one word at a time.

Comments

I am sorry to hear about the rejection. It's always a little difficult even if we know God's got a perfect agent for us somewhere out there and we just have to wait for his timing.

It's good to keep writing and pushing ahead and learning and growing as we go. The more we learn, the more connections we make and the more pages we write in the meantime will only help us when we get that agent or that contract.

Sorry about the tangent :) I'm telling myself this, too, because I'm waiting to hear back on submitted material and I still worry (even though I tell myself I shouldn't) that this isn't the time. Anyway, I'm keeping busy on my new WIP and I'm almost 30% done. Love this new story!

Sorry to hear about the rejection letter Christy. File it away and move on :) After a pint of ice cream and a pound of chocolate :) We've all been there, right?

I just found your blog and hope you don't mind my popping by (thanks to Lindi's post at FAITH).

I am in the midst of re-editing my wip. I haven't calculated how long I think it'll take me to do it. I'm just working away at it. I seem to be getting through one scene a day and that might seem slow, but as long as I see the progress and my work getting better for it, I'm okay with that.

One rejection letter allows you to get membership in the PRO! Besides, I heard a rejection letter is part of every author's initiation into this fantastic world we've chosen to experience! And though I keep forgetting to tell you, thanks! Thanks for showing me the door to this world!

I have given myself 3 days to finish and send off my partial request. I will meet the deadline if it kills me. Then I'm on to the next book. I've written the first chapter in my head...now I need to get it onto the screen. Go figure. :)

Hope it's okay that I recommended this site to my new friend I met at M & M?

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